It comes after Barnet Council’s Labour administration considers an alternative “hybrid model”, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

Mental health social workers staged the first of six days of planned strikes on Tuesday — Barnet Unison outside Barnet Council’s Colindale office during 2023 industrial action

Barnet Unison has urged Barnet Council to bring IT, customer, and revenues and benefits services back “in house”.

The worker’s union has launched a ‘Bringing Services Home’ campaign saying the council is showing “consistent bias against insourcing”.

The council is currently reviewing delivery models including hybrid, fully outsourced, and ‘transformation partnership’ for its remaining outsourced services.

A council report stated “more strategic control” and “flexibility and transformational capability” could be delivered using a hybrid model, as well as the “capacity to deliver better outcomes” for residents and staff and also consider “the financial impact of in-sourcing all services”.

However, Barnet Unison has raised concerns the financial benefits the council has highlighted around some of these delivery models is inaccurate, pointing out the “hidden costs” to outsourcing, such as the profit margins suppliers demand getting more expensive over time, contract management costs and procurement cycle costs.

The council has gradually been returning a range of outsourced council services from its Capita contracts, which have been in place since 2013.

Elements of the customer support group (CSG) contract, namely IT, revenues and benefits and customer services contracts, will extend until June 2026 and September 2026.

However, at a cabinet meeting this week the council agreed to review delivery models for these remaining services, including insourcing, with a final decision expected next year.

But Barnet Unison has said insourcing was “the only sustainable, cost-effective option in Barnet’s current financial crisis”.

In a statement the union said: “Labour nationally has pledged to ‘end the outsourcing racket’ and Unison’s Bringing Services Home campaign makes clear that public services run best in-house, accountable to residents not shareholders.

“Barnet has a real opportunity to deliver on Labour and Unison policy, and to secure better services and stronger jobs for the borough.”

In their own report, responding to the council’s, Barnet Unison listed the “risks” of the proposed models.

The union said: “Splitting IT between in-house strategy and outsourced operations risks duplication, blurred accountability, and increased costs.

“’Transformation partnerships’ may simply delay insourcing while embedding dependency on external providers, leading to cost shocks at contract end.

“Barnet’s IT is already fragmented – with £3.5million of applications sitting outside the Capita contract – creating duplication and inefficiency. Further hybridisation risks making this worse.

“Insourcing provides clarity, control, and long-term sustainability, whereas hybrids and temporary outsourcing replicate the failures of the past.”

In response a council spokesperson said: “The council has not yet made a final decision on how services will be delivered after the current Capita contracts end.

“All options are being considered to ensure the best value for residents, especially given the challenging financial climate.

“The cabinet has agreed to begin a formal procurement process. This means a detailed business case including full costs and terms will be developed and presented to cabinet in early 2026. This timeline allows for a smooth transition to any new service arrangements later that year.

“As part of this process, the council will also assess the option of bringing services back in-house, alongside other delivery models.

“The procurement will be transparent, and council officers will continue to engage with trade unions throughout.

“Detailed responses have already been shared with union representatives ahead of the cabinet’s decision. The final business case will take into account the issues raised in the unions’ report.”

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